Sky launches 24-hour Sudoku

You can do it in your newspaper, buy the magazine, and even play it on your mobile. Now puzzle addicts can play Sudoku on their television 24 hours a day after Sky launched the first interactive Sudoku puzzle.

Sky teamed up with magazine publisher Puzzler Media to launch the game on the broadcaster's interactive channel, Sky Gamestar.

It is not the first time Sky has jumped on the Sudoku bandwagon - Carol Vorderman hosted a live TV version of the show in Sky One. Interactive Sudoku will cost Sky viewers around 60p for a single game, or £1 for a day's play.

It is the latest in a string of third-party tie-ups on the Sky interactive channel. Other games on Sky Gamestar include Scooby Doo with Cartoon Network, Herbie Fully Loaded with Disney, and Shrek in partnership with the Dreamworks movie studio.

Interactive Sudoku will feature four levels of difficulty. Unlike the newspaper and magazine versions, viewers struggling to complete one of the 9 x 9 number grids can press a "cheat" button that fills in a random square on the board.

The Sudoku craze began on Fleet Street four months ago, with newspapers competing to offer their readers more and more complicated puzzles.

Interactive Sudoku launches on Thursday, September 22. Puzzler Media sells more than 17m magazines a year.